Matt Poitras continues to make his case for a spot on the Bruins' roster
BOSTON -- Matt Poitras doesn't know if he'll be starting the season in the NHL. But the 19-year-old knows that he's doing just about everything within his power to make the Bruins' front office think long and hard about giving him a jersey for the opening night of the season next week.
Poitras continued to make his case in Boston's home preseason game against Washington on Tuesday night, scoring a highlight-reel goal to tie the game at 4-4 in the third period.
With the puck in the corner, Poitras (pronounced POT-rah) threw on the brakes in front of Evgeny Kuznetsov. That created enough space for Poitras to carry the puck along the goal line on his backhand toward goaltender Darcy Kuemper. Poitras got the puck to his forehand and fired a short-side shot past Kuemper, tying the game 4:57 into the third period.
"I think I just kind of thought they were out there, the other team's line was out there for a little while," Poitras said after the 5-4 overtime loss for Boston. "So when I had the puck, I thought just a quick cutback and I would have a little room. I think he was a little tired, so I just created some space and got to the net."
Poitras was playing for the second consecutive night, skating 18:27 one night after skating 16:39 in Philadelphia. He had an assist on Boston's lone goal in the game in Philly as he makes a late push to make the roster. (Boston has one preseason game left, on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.) That comes after Poitras made quite the first impression, scoring a goal and assisting on another in the Bruins' preseason opener against the Rangers on Sept. 24. Skating on captain Brad Marchand's line on Tuesday provided an indication of the trust he's built with the coaching staff.
Poitras has already more than proven himself in juniors, as he recorded 95 points in 63 games (16-79-95) for the Guelph Storm last year, before registering six points (2-4-6) in six playoff games.
The 54th overall pick (second round) in 2022 by the Bruins has done just about all he can to try to prove himself worthy of a spot on the NHL roster. After Tuesday's game, he was asked if he thinks he's shown enough.
"I don't know, but I think I played pretty well, and I've done everything I can," Poitras said, per the Bruins' official site. "I think I made it pretty difficult on them."
